They’ve gathered, more than 50 friends and family members, forming a prayer circle in a parking lot at 93rd and South Halsted in Washington Heights. Outside a convenience store there, a single balloon bounces in the wind.
It’s a memorial to a man shot to death at the store last Aug. 18. Two men walked in and started shooting around 2:30 p.m. that day, and Oyedele Olupitan was killed. He was 42.
Now, drummers play traditional African music on
djembes, and chatter fills the air. Some of those present wear traditional African attire and a man waves an African flag.
The music stops. Pastor Donovan Price walks to the center of the group and starts to pray.